Star Dough

Made in small batches from unbleached wheat flour, sweet butter, creme fraiche, baking powder and sea salt, this frozen, prepared dough is a lifesaver. It comes already rolled out into rounds sized perfectly for making pies and galettes. Or use cutters to make little tarts or canapes or whatever your imagination dreams up. Just thaw, then unroll the rounds and they’re ready to use.

The product is the brainchild of Hugh Shurley of Point Richmond, Calif., a fine artist of photography and collages, whose talent apparently extends from studio to kitchen. Just take a look at his Star Dough blog to see some of the delicious creations he’s made.

I had a chance to try a sample of the dough, when Shurley dropped off a couple of packages to my home, as well as a box of apple-caramel mini empanadas he’d just whipped up. I used the dough to make a couple of savory galettes — filled with caramalized onions, cemini mushrooms, Canadian bacon and grated Gruyere.

Whether used in savory or sweet applications, the dough bakes up wonderfully rich and flaky.

The dough is made in a commercial kitchen in San Francisco. Each package contains two frozen, 12-inch rounds.

Star Dough sells for $10-$14. One dollar from the sale of every package is donated to Meals on Wheels, which provides meals to home-bound seniors in San Francisco.

13 comments

To tell you the truth, I always hesitate using anything pre-made and especially pie dough since it is so easy to make. But this actually looks so delicious and, as Rosa said, so authentic and homemade, it would be worth trying! And for a great cause!

Oh, I used prepared dough all the time because I hate the mess of flour in my kitchen, plus I’m lazy. Is this the same as frozen puff pastry or is it more like pie crust? I like that he used it to make empanadas.

Single Guy Ben: It’s not puff pastry, which has a sheet of butter folded meticulously into it to create all those flaky layers. Rather, it’s shortcrust pastry, which doesn’t puff up during baking because it has no leavening agent in it.

Carroll: For sure, Meat Boy, happily downed a few of those empanadas. I admit to being piggy, but not THAT piggy. LOL

We have a similar brand here and their pastries are just great (although they specialise in puff). There seems to be a big difference between regular supermarket pastry and this home made style pastry 🙂

I cannot make my own dough (no matter how easy the dough recipe can be), this dough is a star buy for me! Hmmm….but I need to check them out in the specialty shops you mentioned. Not many South Bay stores….:(

Nicki Woo: You can make a version on your own, easily. Just fill the dough circles with chopped apples and a little caramel sauce (either homemade or store-bought).Fold over, seal well, and bake in a 350-degree oven until golden.